For Ryan Garcia, the fight with Mario Barrios represents something bigger. To the boxing world, he may be seeking redemption. A win over Barrios would not only make him a first-time world champion but would also silence critics who have questioned him for years. For Garcia, the bout at the T-Mobile Arena could serve as a defining chapter in his strained relationship with Golden Boy Promotions (GBP). But he may be misreading one key detail. Garcia may frame the matchup as a turning point, yet it could again be a case of him moving ahead of the situation, because his promoter Oscar De La Hoya has pushed back on that idea, saying they are still tied to a long-term contract.

“I don’t think he knows,” De La Hoya gave a terse reply during an interview. “Or maybe he does, but no, we have…we have several fights with him.”

According to the former world champion-turned-promoter, he takes pride in having promoted Ryan Garcia from when he was a young prospect to the stage where he has been stepping into one PPV fight after another. That evolution, however, has also forced De La Hoya to acknowledge a relationship that has cooled at times and spilled into courtroom disputes.

“I mean, I’m still proud to promote him,” De La Hoya reiterated. “I’m so proud to get him to this world title shot. And that’s where I feel proud as a promoter—when I can help a fighter get to their dreams, get to that world title, and become world champions. So, yeah, but we have several fights with him.”

Oscar De La Hoya‘s response follows Garcia’s comments about his future with Golden Boy Promotions. According to him, his upcoming bout, the title fight against Barrios, will be the last he fights directly under the GBP banner. There could be a matchup or two thereafter. Yet GBP’s role in those fights would be limited to a co-promotional capacity, he speculated. Garcia’s statement came after another round of public exchanges with De La Hoya, underscoring how unsettled the partnership remains.

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“Oscar doesn’t respect me,” he told The Ring magazine in an exclusive interview. “I don’t think he ever thought I was a good fighter, but frankly, I don’t care. I have one more fight left with him, and that’s it. If they can build another star, great. I want to move on.”

He shared those thoughts months after public sparring with De La Hoya following Rolando Romero’s victory over him on the May 2 Fatal Fury card.

Inside Ryan Garcia’s growing rift with Oscar De La Hoya

But the tension did not always appear so pronounced. Some observers believed the relationship between Garcia and Golden Boy Promotions was improving. Together as a team, they navigated the much-anticipated Devin Haney fight. Even after Garcia became embroiled in a doping controversy and a social media outburst that led to his expulsion from the WBC, they remained aligned while awaiting his return from suspension.

That apparent stability followed an earlier setback. Roughly a year earlier, Garcia suffered his first professional loss when Gervonta Davis knocked him out in the seventh round of their non-title bout at the T-Mobile Arena.

In the aftermath of that defeat, the dispute spilled into the legal arena. What followed in the public eye was a series of legal actions between Team Garcia and GBP. Garcia’s legal team sent a demand letter to De La Hoya and his team alleging that their contract was invalid because of violations of California and federal law.

As a countermeasure, GBP filed a lawsuit against Garcia and his advisor in a Nevada District Court to enforce their promotional contract. They alleged breach of contract and claimed Garcia was attempting to make fights without them.

Tensions escalated during the lead-up to his comeback fight against Oscar Duarte in December 2023. However, by early 2024, before the Haney fight, the two sides reached a settlement, temporarily easing a feud that still shapes one of boxing’s most closely watched partnerships.